Friday, October 14, 2011

Geaux Teacher!: Sharon Hewitt Campaign Bows to Pressure

Geaux Teacher!: Sharon Hewitt Campaign Bows to Pressure:

Sharon Hewitt Campaign Bows to Pressure

You can imagine my surprise when teachers began calling me Tuesday to ask if I had dropped out of the campaign for BESE District 1.

All teachers in St. Tammany Parish Schools found the first issue of "The St. Tammany Notebook," official publication of the St. Tammany Federation of Teachers and School Employees, that had been published in a long time. You see, the local union President, Elsie Burkhalter, had been conspicuously "absent" for quite a long time.

And she hasn't been in Baton Rouge during that absence. I remember seeing her one time during the last two legislative sessions, and I was there testifying on behalf of teachers and public education every day that an education related committee met.

So why the sudden interest? It seems that she was supplied by a local school board member with a private


Which Path to Excellence in Education? by David Cohen

This blog was created by David B. Cohen and posted on InterACT. It was so good that I am posting it in full here rather than try to say the same thing in another way. Thanks David for this great post. Sounds like Louisiana to me!!

October 13, 2011



by David B. Cohen
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This blog post was co-authored with Rachel Norton, a school board member for San Francisco Unified School District. Earlier this year she also contributed to this site by sharing her thoughts about school turnaround models. A slightly shorter revision of this blog post was also posted at Beyond Chron, a progressive alternative media site. [Note: on that version, we stated that the Foundation for Excellence in Education had only three board members, a statement based on the contents of their website at the time we wrote that draft. Their website has since been updated to reflect a board of eight members].

It’s not often San Francisco hosts Jeb Bush and Rupert Murdoch, let alone on the same day, but it’s happening this week. Bush is Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Foundation for Excellence in Education. The